Ranked choice voting legal scholar Richard Pildes on RCV
Richard H. Pildes, a constitutional law professor at New York University and ranked choice voting (RCV) legal scholar, wrote in a recent New York Times opinion piece that more places should follow Alaska’s lead in reforming their elections.
Pildes argues that Alaska’s ranked choice voting system will “increase the likelihood that candidates with the broadest appeal to voters, rather than more factional candidates, will win the election.”
Richard Pildes is a longtime expert on ranked choice voting law. He previously published a Law Review article on The Legality of Ranked Choice Voting, and spoke with CNN this year about the benefits of ranked choice voting:
“[Ranked choice voting] encourages the election of candidates with the broadest electoral appeal. It also makes it likely that candidates who win will have the support of a majority of voters. A factional candidate might get 30% of the vote, but if that candidate doesn’t attract wider support, they won’t succeed in an RCV system.”
Pildes is one of many ranked choice voting experts and legal scholars who have endorsed ranked choice voting. Others include Georgetown Law School’s Caroline Frederickson, Harvard Law School’s Nicholas Stephanopoulos and Lawrence Lessig, and George Washington Law School’s Alan Butler Morrison.
As ranked choice voting continues to spread across the nation, we expect many more legal scholars and experts will study and endorse the reform.
